Not What I Ordered

As an aspiring foodie and an Anglophile, this whole horse meat story has really caught my attention in the last few weeks.  What seemed to start as a small accident has blossomed into a huge controversy.  Though, what I don't fully understand is how something like this happens.  I know that in the US we have federal regulators that (are supposed to) keep an eye on what's going into our food and what's happening in the butcher houses.  Personally, that's a job that you couldn't pay me well enough to do, but that's an entirely different story.

So aren't those same regulators doing something close to that job in Europe? When the "cows" they are inspecting are lean and not speckled, and neigh instead of moo, doesn't it send up a few warning signs? Though, what I'm most horrified about is that this isn't much of an issue in France, as they are still consuming horse meat there...on purpose. 

Now I'm most definitely a meat eater, and I could never be a vegetarian in a million years.  I try not to think about the cute little cows and pigs that give their lives to fill my dinner plate each day.  But it's hard not to be horrified at the thought of a horse being on that same plate.  How can they eat them willingly?  While I'm not the biggest fan of horses in general (they're a little too big and unpredictable for my liking), they're beautiful and brilliant animals.  I understand that it's something the French has always done, but it's just a terrible thought.

Each day, there seems to be a new product that the horse DNA has been found in.  Between IKEA meatballs today, and Nestle packaged Lasagna last week, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before something reaches our shores.  At the risk of sounding like a big old ninny, I will most definitely be sticking to home made for the time being...